De Silvestro hopeful of F1 race seat but experts doubt it

Simone de Silvestro believes her chances of joining the Formula 1 grid in 2015 with Sauber are “good”.

Last month, the Swiss team signed up the 25-year-old Indycar driver, nominating her as “an affiliated driver” of the Hinwil based outfit.

Sauber’s February statement said that de Silvestro will undertake “on track testing, simulator training, as well as mental and physical preparation”, with the goal being “to gain her Super License and prepare for a race seat in Formula 1 for 2015″.

The Swiss newspaper Blick said that de Silvestro, from Thun in Switzerland, is set to make her Formula 1 test debut at the end of April.

She said this week: “Formula 1 has always been my dream.”

Asked how realistic that dream is, she answered: “If I do everything right, there is a good chance I will get there at some point.”

However, given the current nature of midfield Formula 1, de Silvestro must be considered third in line at Sauber, behind the well-sponsored reserve driver Giedo van der Garde and the ‘Russian rescue deal’-linked Sergey Sirotkin.

Veteran Blick correspondent Roger Benoit said: “The chance that de Silvestro will ever race for Sauber in Formula 1 is about one per cent.” (GMM)